Fruit of Passion

Thinking out loud

It's almost midnight and Arsalan lay wide awake on his bed, reminiscing the earlier events of the day over and over again. It seemed impossible for him to get Wania out of his system, especially now that he had lost control momentarily and let his impulse rule him. If it hadn't for Irfan Raza's intrusion, he would have kissed her and the way his body reacted to her proximity, he wasn't sure what could have followed that kiss. The thought excited him, it terrified him.

It wasn't like Wania was the first woman that he had been close to. As Wania said 'girls were crazy about him back in school' and that wasn't entirely wrong. In school, in college, during the years he was studying in Ireland; getting female attention was something Arsalan was quite used to and every now and then he reciprocated as well. But, the way his entire being had been stuck at that one tiny moment of closeness and connection was rare. In fact, it never happened before and that made Arsalan ponder over the incident which was making him feel all the things he felt the moment his fingers touched Wania's face again and again. The tantalizing sensation that he still felt there was making him restless. 

"God! Get me out of this feedback loop from Lalaland" Arsalan muttered as he sat up on his bed, utterly irritated and completely unable to do anything about it. He reached out and picked up his phone from the side table. Wania's number was on his speed dial and his finger hovered over her name, his mind contemplating whether this should be a good call. Seconds turned into a full minute and he just stared at her name and then decided against it and casually threw his phone sideways on the bed and as soon as the phone hit the mattress, it rang.

Arsalan saw Wania's name flashing from his phone and stared at it for a moment, thinking he might be imagining it, but then shook his head and picked up the call.

"Hello!" He said cautiously

"Hey!" a small voice came from the phone and then silence followed. After a few seconds, Wania's voice came back saying,

"I am sorry. I called so late" 

"It's Okay, is everything alright?" Arsalan replied a little unsure and was taken aback when he heard Wania say,

"Well! it depends....We need to talk" Her tone wasn't hard or accusatory. She spoke softly.

Arsalan was alerted, she wants to talk. In his mind, he fully assumed that Wania was going to be shush about their moment and act like it never happened, but the fact that she wanted to talk about it made him pleasantly surprised and hopeful, although he doesn't know what for.

"Ammmm....Okay. Tomorrow in the office?" Arsalan suggested and Wania replied immediately

"No, not in the office. How about lunch?" 

"Okay"

And before she can hang up Arsalan spoke,

"Anything important that you wanted to talk about?"

" Yes, something that can change the course of our lives, both personal and professional," Wania said seriously and Arsalan felt his heart stir.

"Hmmm" was all that Arsalan could let out.

"So lunch at two, tomorrow?" Wania said once again to confirm

"Sounds good to me." Arsalan affirmed

"Okay goodnight!' 

"Night"

And with a higher pulse rate and twisting stomach Arsalan fall back on his bed, waiting for the next day.

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Wania had called Arsalan after a long discussion with her inner self. She had almost decided that she will keep her distance from Arsalan and let the 'incident' fade in their memories on it's own without giving it much a due, although it wasn't easy. But, her conversation with her mother just a few minutes ago in the kitchen urged her to call Arsalan late at night and fix a meeting with him.